Vicious proves a turn-off as 2m viewers desert sitcom in second week

Vicious started off strongly but dropped 2m viewers in its second week (Picture: Brown Eyed Boy)

The second episode of ITV’s much-hyped sitcom Vicious failed to improve on its promising start, losing 2m viewers in the space of a week.

According to official figures the show, which stars Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi as ageing gay couple Freddie and Stuar, scored 3.5m for its Bank Holiday Monday episode, with a further 190,000 watching an hour later on ITV+1.

By contrast the first episode attracted an audience of 5.5m watching at 9pm, with another 344,000 tuned in on ITV+1.

Fellow sitcom The Job Lot, which was screened immediately after at 9.30pm, also lost viewers from its opening episode.

The Job Lot also lost 1.5m viewers in its second week (Picture: ITV)

This week’s instalment of the show, which stars Russell Tovey, pulled in 2.7m viewers and 141,000 on ITV+1 – a drop of 1.5m from the previous week.

Despite the fall in figures, Vicious was still the most watched show of the evening outside of Monday’s usual soaps.

BBC One’s most watched show was a repeat of Pointless Celebrities, which attracted 3.32m at 7.15pm, while Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, shown at 8.30, was just a shade behind on 3.31m.

Vicious debuted to mixed reviews from the critics last week, with many accusing it of being too old-fashioned, while others suggested it was trying too hard to be edgy.

The Independent’s Tom Sutcliffe called it, ‘Full of lines that have the cadence of comedy but often prove to be devoid of wit when examined more closely,’ while The Guardian called it: ‘A Greggs doughnut of a show.’